Left Field Cinema

There are certain films which an individual encounters during their life which are instantly recognisable as flawed but for some reason we’re willing to forgive their faults and not let them deter our enjoyment of the viewing experience. Often these films are connected to our earlier life, a childhood or teenage favourite which as we grow older is exposed as a fractured and faulty work of fiction which we were incapable of discerning in years past. Sometimes these films have always been flawed in our minds but some element of their production taps into an area of our subconscious which forbids us from dismissing it as a merely a “bad” film. I am of course describing a “Guilty Pleasure”. The “pleasure” is what we feel when watching this film and the “guilt” is what we take for feeling the “pleasure”. For myself and many others Strange Days is one such film.

Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, one of the action directors of choice in the early 1990’s with films like Point Break and Blue Steel on her C.V. Bigelow’s directorial style has changed over the years, her more recent outings like last years The Hurt Locker taking on a more realistic approach to the subject, and as a result providing her with plenty of awards and nominations. But back in the 90’s and Bigelow was one of the action movie pioneers with a particular attention to detail when it comes to violence and story. Strange Days came in 1995 written by Bigelow’s then husband James Cameron, the story is set over the three days leading up to and including New Years eve 1999 to 2000, our hero is former L.A vice cop Lenny Nero (played by Ralph Fiennes). Lenny’s career was cut short for reasons unknown and now he is a dealer of other people’s memories which are distributed via a device called the S.Q.U.I.D a piece of technology which allows people to record their memories, but not just the vision and the audio but the sensations, the smells, the feelings involved. This technology can be used to allow a man with no legs to take a run on the beach, but as with what would likely occur in real life it is being more commonly used to distribute porno’s and snuff clips (known in the story as “black jacks”). The films impressive opening scene see’s Lenny plug in to a “black jack” clip unawares, we see an ostensibly unbroken continuous first person point of view shot of an armed robber busting into a restaurant and stealing money only for the police to arrive and surround the building, in a desperate bid for escape the robber runs up to the top floor of the building and attempts to jump from one building to the next only to fall short and to his death. The sequence is visually enthralling, and this element of the film does not let up. Lenny finds himself in the jack pot, a friend of his, Iris, is brutally raped and murdered in a hotel room, the killer recorded it all using a S.Q.U.I.D and left Lenny the tape. Iris had witnessed a terrible crime and the killer silenced her permanently, soon Lenny realises that Iris left her own S.Q.U.I.D tape of the crime she witnessed in his car and with the aid of best friend Mace (played by Angela Bassett) and former colleague and now also ex-cop Max (played by Tom Sizemore, a Biglow favourite) Lenny must unravel the mystery before the killer takes him out as well. Meanwhile Lenny battles with his unrequited love for his ex-girlfriend Faith (played by Juliet Lewis) who finds herself involved in the case along with current boyfriend Philo (played by grizzly voiced Michael Wincott). The city is on the verge of melt down with riot police constantly quashing civil unrest, criminals tearing up the city streets and military check points around every street corner, some how two rogue L.A.P.D uniformed officers (played by William Fichtner and Vincent D’Onofrio) are tied in with this case and the murder of African American rapper Jericho One (played by Glenn Plummer) as well as state sanctioned Death Squads patrolling the streets killing anyone of African decent they don’t like the look of.

The plot is not easily summarised and this is telling of the major problem that Strange Days suffers from – as you’ve probably gathered it’s about five films wrapped into one. As a result of this it suffers from rather large stretches of expositionary dialogue in the first act, not only does the complex plot line need setting up as well as the many characters rather pertinent relationships to one and other, but also the rules of this futuristic world and the way in which the S.Q.U.I.D device actually works. There isn’t even a central thematic connection between all the various strands of Strange Days either, with themes of unrequited love, memory, racial hatred, sexual perversion and drug addiction all explored with no one theme taking precedence over another. This lends the film a somewhat messy structure, and even though all of the various plot strands eventually converge in an unexpected way, the climax is still telling of the films segregation of story strands as Lenny deals with one enemy in a high rise condo and Mace deals with other enemies in the New Years Eve party which rages below. The two climaxes are related but they run completely separately making the last act particularly clunky – even if it remains rather satisfying. The film is also unusually long given that it moves at a rapid pace and doesn’t let up in it’s relentless approach towards midnight new years eve, it is perhaps too long, with extended set up and exposition as already mentioned, some points of exposition are really unnecessary, for example a brief flashback explaining how Mace and Lenny know each other is out of place in a film where memory is mostly conveyed through “playback” rather than physical memory, it’s much more interesting for us as the viewer to speculate as to how this “odd couple” ever got together and what it is that keeps Mace coming back to help Lenny even though he takes her friendship and kindness for granted and frequently takes advantage of her good nature. Another problem with the film are the one-dimensional villains, Philo and the two rogue cops are poorly constructed and show absolutely no redeemable qualities, they’re violent and unpleasant to the point of being absurd, frankly we don’t believe that these people really exist.

Another point of irritation in Strange Days is in its art design; it has always perplexed me as to why writers set some science fiction films in the near future which will put their film out of date within the next few years. Strange Days is now ten years out of date, and the crucial piece of equipment at the centre of the story is still no where close to being invented. Not only that but even with a five year gap between the time of production and the time the film was set and Strange Day’s art direction decided to give most of the characters a futuristic fashion sense including long hair for most of male cast members and garish shirts and tie colour combinations which looked silly in 1995 and even worse now. The predictions of extreme civil unrest in L.A. weren’t without reasonable motives after the Rodney King incident for which the film takes a heavy influence from, but of course L.A. then and today is in nowhere near the level of trouble it is portrayed as in Strange Days. Of course this is where the suspension of disbelief comes into play as with all Science Fiction films which have now gone out of date, it’s venial sin on the part of the production and proves irritating rather than distracting.

So where’s the “pleasure” in this messy science fiction thriller? Strange Days has a number of fundamental problems as outlined, but that doesn’t stop it from being an incredibly well made film with some great ideas and beautifully constructed and unforgettable character moments and some truly brutal violence which stays with you long after the film has finished. The aforementioned Point of View shots are a marvel to behold, a special camera was developed to make these images possible, often the “playback” sequences will last several minutes, the shots are almost completely uninterrupted and are the ultimate in voyeuristic thrills. Lenny recalls a day at the beach with Faith riding around on roller skates shortly followed by her stripping off for him and then making love; Juliet Lewis seduces the camera which represents Lenny and we honestly feel that what we are watching is a private memory rather than some contemporary sex tape. But not all the “playback” sequences are so pleasant, the rape and murder of Iris being particularly brutal and painful to watch, Cameron’s script cleverly manipulates the S.Q.U.I.D technology to present one of the most distressing concepts ever presented in cinema as the killer straps a S.Q.U.I.D to the blindfolded and tied down Iris, and jacks her into his own output so that she sees what he sees, she sees herself from the killers point of view in real time as he pulls out a knife and runs it over her chest, maximising her terror and then heightening the killers pleasure as a result. It is a sequence that could not have been achieved without the means of this fictional piece of technology which means it is not likely to be emulated in cinema ever again.

Despite the poorly conceived flashback, Mace and Lenny’s relationship is one of the films subtler joys, Mace is a tough woman, her muscular arms and legs means we believe it to be possible when she over powers men twice her size, Lenny by comparison is weak both in terms of physical strength and mental strength, he needs Mace and she props him up for as long as she can. They make a believable odd couple, and their relationship is often sweet and tender as well as cantankerous and antagonist. In the films best scene, it has been clearly established that Lenny spends most of his time living in the past, refusing to get over Faith and rewatching memories he’s recorded of him and her during the good times, Mace has enough of Lenny’s dependence on these clips and starts destroying them, she begs Lenny to live in the present and in the films most profound moment tells Lenny that “memories fade, they’re designed that way for a reason” I’m almost willing to forgive every sin this film commits on the basis of this one line of dialogue. This all ties in rather nicely with the drugs metaphor, “playback” is very clearly a drug in the world of Strange Days, you can become addicted to it, you can fry your brain with it (akin to an overdose) or you can slowly become paranoid from over exposure; it is dealt illegally by men like Lenny in the manner of a drug dealer, and eventually it will take over vast stretches of your life and stop you functioning in the real world. The clarity of this drugs metaphor is one of the films strengths, as Lenny’s “playback” addiction is mainly centred around Faith, the film clearly compares drug addiction to unrequited love, the levels of humiliation we are willing to bear for that special person who doesn’t return the feelings we have, are entirely comparable to the humiliation we’ll endure when we’re desperate for a fix, or stoned, high or otherwise out of there mind as a result of ingesting a narcotic be it alcohol, heroin, cocaine, or any other recreational drug commonly obtained by men and women around the globe. Addiction comes in all shapes and sizes, and Lenny’s addiction is to his own past which has long since escaped his present. His addiction is just as destructive as a heroin user’s addiction. Strange Days posits that love is like a drug and as a by-product can be as damaging as a drug.

Strange Days also boasts and impressive kinetic energy in terms of shots with high motion, snappy and often very creative editing and the films music which mixes modern rock, electronica, grunge, classical and the films score. The film might seem music heavy were it not predominately set in parties and night clubs on the run up to the biggest party of the centaury. The film features a huge number of extras in the New Years Eve climax which lends the film a sense of the epic which otherwise alludes similar pictures. Bigelow also showcases her ability to choreograph fight scenes and shootouts all of which are incredibly exhilarating, the sense of pain and fear is always very clear in Strange Days, broken glass will cut men rather than just fall off them, a punch in the face feels like it hurts and a persons horror at witnessing an atrocity always feels genuine. But it’s not all pain and suffering, the film also has a very strong streak of comedy which is much needed to lighten the heavy thematic load; in one scene Lenny is worried that there might be an intruder in his house so he grabs a gun from under his bed and begins to search his premises with the aid of tense music, after getting into the next room he suddenly retreats to his bedroom leans under his bed and grabs the clip for his gun which he’d forgot before, at no point does Lenny’s facial expression indicate that he’s forgotten the clip which makes the moment all the more hilarious. Another moment sees Lenny’s car about to get towed by a repo man, he tries to bribe the driver with Rollex Watch, the driver takes it and tows his car anyway – without blinking Lenny opens up his brief case and pulls out another fake Rollex and straps it to his wrist. Scenes like these are essential in this film as Lenny is such a wet and often pathetic protagonist; we need these comedic moments for Lenny to endear himself to us.

For all its flaws, Bigelow’s film has etched itself into my memory, it is a film that I return to quite frequently and has immense rewatchability, I’ve watched the film at least six times now which is several times more than some of what I would personally consider the greatest films ever made. Bigelow and Cameron created a world with Strange Days, a fascinating world where the fate of an entire society rests in the hands a man crippled by unrequited love, it is a concept I’ve never seen before and will probably never see again and although some of the events might unfold in a predictable manner the set up and concept remain wholly unique. Yes there is guilt in this pleasure, but luckily the pleasure triumphs at almost every turn.

M.Dawson